Nebraska set to follow North Carolina with 12-week abortion ban

At the same time, Republican lawmakers in Nebraska are poised to pass similar abortion restrictions as part of a bill to restrict gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. A vote could happen as soon as Thursday.

The proposal includes exceptions in cases of sexual assault, incest and medical emergencies. The bill it was attached to would ban gender-reassignment surgery for anyone 18 and younger.

In North Carolina, the veto override passed through the House of Representatives on a razor thin margin made possible by state Rep. Tricia Cotham (R) switching parties last month. 

Tar Heel Democrats, aware of the few options left to them to counter this bill, have vowed to put an abortion referendum on the 2024 ballot and blasted the legislation as out-of-sync with voters.

“North Carolinians are not in support of what is happening during this session. We have to make every effort to elect representatives that will advocate for every person in North Carolina. Until then, dangerous bills will continue to become law,” Democratic state Rep. Maria Cervania told The Hill.

Democrats have even less power in Nebraska’s unicameral state government, where Republicans control about two-thirds of the legislature. 

But similar to North Carolina, the amendment in Nebraska stops short of imposing the most stringent bans on abortion that have passed in other states. It reflects the difficult calculus from Republicans who are attempting to thread a political needle between their hard-line base and the rest of the electorate.  

The amendment was added to the transgender care bill after a previous attempt to pass a standalone, six-week “heartbeat” ban failed by a single vote, when 80 year-old longtime Republican Sen. Merv Riepe abstained from the vote to advance the legislation.

Riepe had introduced an amendment that would ban abortions after 12 weeks, but it wasn’t given a vote. But on Tuesday, he voted to advance the new amendment and attach it to the underlying bill.

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